Fearing rejection?

"The going price for any worthwhile win is 10 setbacks. If you can handle that failure rate, you have what it takes to succeed." Harvey Mackay, 'Swim with the sharks'

"people differ not only in how much they talk, but also in how much they “self-censor” before they talk.Verbally disinhibited people, for example, agree to questionnaire items such as “I speak my mind as soon as a thought enters my head,” and “If I have something to say, I don’t hesitate to say it.” Verbally inhibited people, by contrast, tend to use words much more sparingly, and agree with items like “It often takes me a while to figure out how to express myself,” and “If I disagree with someone, I tend to wait until later to say something.”Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton

"Attachment anxiety is a disposition associated with victims of abuse, and is characterized by an intense anxiety over rejection. As such, people high in attachment anxiety are particularly vulnerable to being "treated like a God" during the courtship phase of a relationship: being flooded with flowers, adulated, constantly called. Fears of rejection overwhelm the ability to detect an unhealthy balance between independence and interdependence in their relationships." emphasis added. Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, Ph.D.

"I feared making a bad decision when choosing a spouse. I needed everything to be perfect. When she wasn't (and she isn't, but, for that matter, neither am I) I felt like I needed to jet. Confrontation is hard. So is admitting you are impulsive and have overreacted..." Christopher Riordan

 Henri Nouwen tells us:Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it. And so we ignore our greatest gift, which is our ability to enter into solidarity with those who suffer. Christopher Riordan

Friends stick.